


The Apple Tree

by Pearl_Unplanned



Series: Cap_Ironman Bingo 2016 (1) [13]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Childhood Sweethearts, Happy Ending, Hurt Tony, M/M, Sad Tony, Stony Bingo, Tony has an apple farm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7397434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Unplanned/pseuds/Pearl_Unplanned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When his best friend moved away years ago, it left a hole in Tony's heart that he could never tell anyone about. After all, only two people knew what happened in that meadow on the last day of Summer, fifteen years ago.</p>
<p>*Now with a <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/7600966">sequel</a>!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Apple Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Current day. _In the past._  
>  Bingo prompt: mawwiage that bwessed awwaingement

 

            Tony grabbed his baskets on the way out the door. It had taken him a few weeks to get the hang of basket weaving, but now he was pretty much an expert. It took a little while to convince himself to actually leave the house, though. He knew that he should go down to the apple trees and collect the harvest, but he almost didn't want to.

            It was stupid for him to be so... _sad_ about something that had happened years ago, but he couldn't help it. For the first six years of his life, he'd had one friend, one best friend, and after his family left... There were many things that they didn't know, things that went on between the boys that they never spoke of.

            _The two boys had spent the whole afternoon gathering wildflowers of every color imaginable. It had taken hours, but it was worth it. It was something they did together, hours spent_ together _, while they still were able to._

_Flowers were everywhere, all over the ground. Bouquets, crowns, necklaces. Anything the boys were able to make, they did._

            The Rogers family was good friends of the Stark family. That's how the boys had met in the first place—they'd always been at one or the other's house, always getting into some sort of trouble.

            Strapping the baskets onto his back, he headed out to do his work. They had fields of apples, and if he didn't get them, then some other critter would end up eating their harvest. With the number of people who bought their apples and apple cider, they couldn't have too much loss, which meant that he was picking apples all day long. That or any of the other crops they grew, but mostly the apples.

            They'd always been his responsibility.

            _"I've got something for you," the little blond child said, his cheeky little grin wide and happy despite the fact that he was going to be leaving tomorrow._

_"What'cha got?" the brunet asked, trying to prey the smaller child's hands open._

_"Not yet," the other child squealed, laughter filling the meadow as he handed the other child one of the flower bouquets._

_Red, orange, yellow, white._

            The baskets of apples were pretty heavy, but after years of carrying them around, he'd gotten a lot stronger than before. It was easy to drag around big baskets of apples. He was good at his job, too. And he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Any _one_ was something else—there was one person he would trade it all for.

            But that was another time, another life. Now, he was just here to farm apples and made cider.

            The sweat was pouring down his back by the time he made it back to the house with his large woven baskets full of fresh, perfect fruit.

            That was when he decided that he really did need to go to the one place he was avoiding.

            _"Come over here. There's something that we need to do," the blond boy said. His friend ran to his side, a sorrow-filled look on his face. He knew that his friend was going to be leaving soon, once the day was over. It was already starting to get dark._

_The blond boy smile and took his friend's hand. He giggled when the brunet put a flower crown on his head._

_Red, white, blue, purple._

            There was a path, made only by footprints over many years, leading down to a creek and beyond. Beyond the creek was a meadow, one he knew all too well. It had hundreds of not thousands of wildflowers.

            Every color imaginable for a child.

            The meadow had some importance to him, much more than anyone else knew about. While Tony had always thought that the meadow had been a 'secret hideout place,' it turned out that everyone knew. Everyone had always known that he'd play there. What they didn't know was what else had gone on in that meadow.

            He'd gotten married there, fifteen years ago.

            _"It's an apple seed," the brunet said, confused._

_"Exactly! Ma has a ring that Pa gave her, but I can't get one of those... plus those are for girls anyway," the blond said, shrugging. "But I got an apple seed, and we can plant it together. I love you, Tony, and I want you to remember me. I don't want to leave."_

_"But you are," the brunet said sadly, big eyes full of tears._

_"But I could come back. I don't want you to forget me," the other child insisted as he started digging in the dirt. "I want you to wait for me."_

_The brunet took a seat beside him, putting his bouquet down so that he could help dig the hole for the seed._

_"I’ll take care of it," the brunet promised. "And I'll be here. I'll wait."_

_The blond smiled. He hugged his friend like it was the last time they'd ever see each other._

_"I love you too," the dark haired boy whispered._

            The tree had grown a lot in the past fifteen years. Tony made sure to care for it as much as he could. He kept animals away from it, he watered it, and he tended to it as much as humanly possible.

            No one knew where he was going when he went out, and no one needed to know. Every year, on the anniversary of his fake wedding, Tony made sure to make two flower crowns with specific wildflowers. The same ones, every time. He'd hang them on the branches for as long as they'd stay. He'd gather the ripened apples. He'd makes pies and ciders and whatever he felt like making.

            He always made things alone, though. He refused to let anyone else help him, just like he refused to let anyone else near the tree.

            _"I learned the words from Ma," the blond said proudly. "With this ring... I thee wed. But I don't have a ring, so take this flower."_

_The brunet laughed, smelling the rose. "Me too? I wed... with the ring—with the flower..."_

_A blush crossed the boy's face as he handed him a bright blue wildflower._

_"And now I pronounce you man and wife," the blond mumbled to himself. "Man and... husband? And now we're married."_

_"Nuh-unh," the brunet said, crossing his teeny arms across his tiny chest. "That's not how it goes!"_

            The last day of the summer was always a sad one. His parents weren't sure if it was because of the friend he'd lost so long ago, or if it was for some other reason. They'd always just guessed that losing his one and only childhood friend might've been the reason, but no one ever asked him about it. No one ever really wanted to know.

            All they knew was that Tony waited by that tree in that meadow until sunset, when the fireflies started to light up the sky. He wouldn't come home until then, no matter what. Every year, he never missed his vigil. More often than not he'd spend the entire afternoon there, waiting.

            Some people, his friends usually, or his mom, had tried to set him up with girls. No one really understood why Tony turned down all of the girls, never even giving them a chance.

            He tried to tell himself it wasn't because of the wedding. It was because he wasn't attracted to girls. But that was a lie, too. He didn't even consider being attracted to _anyone_. He wouldn't allow himself the thoughts.

            He was a married man.

            _"You have to kiss to get married," the dark haired boy insisted. His face was as red as an apple, but he didn't lower his head. He was serious._

_"Oh yeah," the blue-eyed boy said in surprise._

_It was a quick, childish kiss, but both boys’ hearts still fluttered with their boyhood puppy love._

_"I'll wait for you," the brunet whispered before they both ran off to chase the fireflies. A small pile of dirt marked the buried apple seed._

            Someone was in Tony's tree, eating one of the apples. No one was allowed to touch those apples. Out of any of the trees that he could've chosen, that wasn't the one that he was allowed to eat from. Tony didn't even care if the guy cut down apple trees from the family farm, as long as he didn't touch _that_ tree. But there he was, up in the branches as if it was completely normal.

            "Hey," Tony shouted, running over to the tree, intent on cussing the guy out until he left.

            What Tony hadn't been expecting was the bright blond hair, the familiar blue eyes, and that kind smile.

            He felt his heart swell with hope and disbelief.

            Steve hopped down off of the branch he was on, easily landing on the ground. He took Tony's hand, gently placing an apple in his open palm.  His right hand found Tony's shoulder, firmly grasping it.

            "Hello, stranger."


End file.
